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Hello and welcome to the podcast. Before we begin, today's episode is going to be a noisy one because it's a weekend. The kids are having catechism classes and I'm outside church making today's recording. So there's going to be some noise in the background. Now, we're not here to discuss my kids or their faith today. I'm hoping that we're going to be able to look at, OK, how to determine who is the customer, who is the lead, who is the client, who is a prospect?
How do we know if people are interested? How do you know if somebody's a workout pass, whether we should just get rid of them, when we should give up all these kinds of issues. That's what I want us to look at today. Now confession, this is not going to be a very structured episode because I'm currently looking at the person's profile right now in LinkedIn that inspired, that's going to inspire today's episode. And rather than sit down and collect my thoughts because I'm,
you know, things are piling up. So if I say, let me look at this thing, let me digest it. Let me tease out all the issues that are involved. It'll take a long time and then I'll forget. But as a post that caught my my attention because the lady, she complained, she said she spent two years chasing people who are never going to buy. I repeat, the lady said she spent two years chasing people who are never going to buy. And then you know how our thoughts on the whole process is what is what followed.
So I figured, let me just attend to this thing now. No, no, no, no, because if I say I'll do this thing tomorrow, I'll forget. And I think that this is really important because there are lots of other people who are business owners who have spent. Two years. Chasing somebody and they didn't close. But she actually is a sales Rep. So a sales Rep, I would like to explain sales Rep now an employee basically. So she works for someone else and she's she's responsible for bringing in sales.
And then there are also sales reps who have spent. 2. Years chasing somebody and then the deal didn't close. Now, if you are a regular listener of the podcast, you'll remember that maybe last week I'll be a week and a half, two weeks we already discussed. Something like this where somebody complained that the guy spent six months. Chasing a customer and the customer didn't, you know, the thing didn't click. And so we had looked at whether,
you know, six months is a reasonable time, whether six months is too long. And we went into the differences between the simple sales scenario and the complex sales scenario, just so that you can understand all the factors that go. Into a sale so that you will now know that if you've been on the matter for two years, you're wasting your time. Or whether you've been on the matter for six months, you've only begun. Or whether you've been on the matter for 36 hours and you know that, OK, you spent too much time.
Because whether 36 hours is too much time or whether two years is reasonable. Or whether six months is just posting stage. It depends on a lot of factors. So if you're new to this podcast by the time you're done, just use Google Gemini or whatever and then ask it whether I have made any podcast episode before concerning simple sales and complex sales. Then it's going to the AI tools because it looks like my podcast was my podcast is now being indexed well in in all these AI
machines. So you can ask them and then they're going to give you the episodes where I talk about these sorts of things. And then you listen to it and you get caught up to speed, you get the background. So the bottom line, what I'm trying to say is that the fact that you chase somebody for two years and the thing didn't click, it does not mean it was bad. It does not mean they were never going to buy. It depends on whether you're in a simple sale.
Or a complex sale. And it depends on how complex The thing is. So for instance, let's say sale of aircraft. For instance, if you want to sell aeroplane to somebody who is starting up an airline, 2 years sounds just about right. So it depends because people who want to set up an airline, who want to buy airplanes and you know, stuff like that, there's a lot that they have to consider. Safety track record, international airline, airplane,
Abbey Airport, air industry guidelines, local industry guidelines, the terms of the partnership agreement, service contracts. Like there's a lot that they have to look for. So my guess is if what she says is aeroplane, then two years is a reasonable something. But of course, if what you sell is real estate, you're selling house or you're selling car, you're chasing somebody for two years, it just means you didn't get the memo that they're not interested.
So I'm not going to comment on whether two years is reasonable or not because the answer is it depends. So just try and look for the podcast episodes where I talk about simple sales and complex hill scenarios, the different elements that go into it. And then you will now be able to decide yourself whether you have been chasing somebody for two years, you should be frustrated or whether you have been chasing somebody for two years.
And that's just the opening sample. That's just normal toasting levels like that's just how it is. So it depends. But I'm not one who would say you'll be chasing somebody for six months or begin the frustrate. No, it's not. It's not like that. It's not like that. Whether six months is too long or too short, whether two years is too long or too short, it depends. We have to look at it on the context to context level now,
the lady continues. She said that she had wasted two years of her life and with that in a sense. I agree. If you're in the kind of sales scenario where a two year sales cycle is too long, then yeah, in that case you have wasted two years of your life. Now, this is the reason why I keep on telling business people and sales people and they don't quite understand. I keep telling people that when you're talking to somebody,
because people are afraid of no, they do everything to avoid somebody saying no, I'm not interested. But here's the deal. If somebody says yes, that is good, very good, because it means that you have concluded, you have gotten business, you will get money, your account will do ping him. So if somebody says yes, that is good. Now, some people think that if somebody says maybe they think it's good. But I'm here to tell you that maybe you are wrong and.
Then some people think that when you hear no, no is bad and I'm here to tell you that you are wrong. If they say yes, it is good because you hear ping him. If they say maybe, maybe it's a very bad thing to hear because all that, maybe, maybe. Let me think about it. Committee we meet, let me talk to chairman, let me talk to my wife, let me talk to my lawyer, let me talk to my husband. I'm coming. I'm praying on it. My spirit is telling me all those maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe thing that is how you can waste two years of your life because somebody has been telling you maybe.
Oh, I'm sorry, I was out of the country. I missed your memo. I haven't spoke to chairman. Chairman went for his daughter as well. All those made all those. That's how you waste two years of your life when you hear no, no is good. Because if somebody tells you no now, no thank you. I'm not interested. Tell the person thank you. I appreciate the honesty. And then ask for a referral. Do you know anybody else who might be interested in blah blah blah?
If they know, they will give you. If they don't know, then good. You now walk away. Before you walk away, drop your flyer, drop your business card, and then you leave. No is very good because when somebody tells you no, you now know that you're not going to waste your time in chasing people who are never going to buy. You tell them thank you and then you move on and start looking for other people who might be interested.
So please salespeople, business owners, let us re rewire our brains. Yes is good because it means we're making money. No is your second best answer. If they tell you no, leave. You will save yourself time. Anybody who is telling you maybe maybe I'm coming, I'm coming, maybe this, maybe all that maybe is is wrong, wrong. You're wasting your life. So as much as possible push for a yes or push for a no. Anything that is not yes or no.
Is even just Christ said it, it should be yes or no. Anything else is from the devil is from the devil. You're wasting your time. If you hear yes, good. If you hear no good, anything that is in between you anyway. Let me just leave it like that. Let me just leave it like that. So the lady said she was reviewing her pipeline from previous quarters. Oh, by the way, when sales people say pipeline, we just mean how many people are we talking to anybody, they are talking to that person there for pipeline, you know, because it's like, it's like a petrol petrochemical engineering.
So something is passing through the pipeline, the two entire refinery, from the refinery, you know, you now process it, you now make kerosene, you now make liquefied natural gas, you now make petrol, you now make, you know. And so everything on our pipeline, anybody you're talking to that's in the pipeline, some of them will manifest into $1,000,000 deals, that's good. Some of them will manifest into million naira deals.
That one is good. Some will manifest into, you know, hundreds of thousands, that one is good. Some of them will manifest into, you know, 10 thousand, 5050 thousand. Well, it's not as if it's bad, but you know, we'll manage it. So that's anybody you're talking to, that's what we call pipeline. So this babe now shows now reviewing our pipeline from the previous quarter. Now when we say quarter, we just means that we break up the year into 3 three months, Abby, yes,
we break the year into four. And because we have 12 months, that means the quarter is 3 three months. So whenever, whenever somebody says previous quarter, they just mean the last three months. So now we are in this is 1st of March as at the time of this recording. So previous quarter will now mean that she was looking for at her records from December Abbey December backwards December, November, October good. So October to December of last year.
So the babe now was going through all the all the convo where she's been having now from October to December of 2025. And then she realized that dozens of names, but I always say doesn't, you know, doesn't mean 12 now. So it's not just 12 people. It was was not just 12 people, was not just 24 was not just 36. You say dozens and dozens. She say hundreds of conversations, countless of hours of her time that it was wasted.
It was wasted because the deals went nowhere. People ghosted and ghosted. Opportunity approved opportunity. That was not an opportunity after all. By the way. You see, this is the reason why I say we should be keeping ACRM because my relationship management tool, because it's a place where we keep all our contacts. We house the records of the people that we're talking to, the things that we discussed, things like that.
You know, it helps us. You can go into your CRM and look at your conversations and say you know what? This is bro. Chukudi that I've been following for the last three years, I know that he sounds like he's a good guy and everything, but I'm looking at the record now. Me and Chukudi, we don't they young for three years. Nothing is coming off this thing. Let me just close this account. Let me delete chukudi from my phone.
You can only do that if you have ACRM and it will be the right thing to do. That's assuming you assess everything. Well, it will be the right thing to do because all the time you you're, you spend not chasing chukudi, you can spend it chasing other people who might end up paying you. Good money at the end of the day. So please we need the CRM so that just like this lady looked at her pipeline and she started to delete countless of names.
Sorry, no. Countless. What did she say again? Dozens of names, hundreds of conversations. Begin the delete, delete, delete. We need to get some people off our table because I've taken too much space in our in our mind, in our brain. You wake up in general. You're thinking Brochu Cudi. How will I continue this conversation? Then? By July of 2026, you're still thinking Brochu Cudi. How will I close this deal now? By December of 2026, you're still thinking Brochu Cudi.
How will this thing connect and then you wake up in 2027 again, like, oh, come on, It was a complex sale scenario, but this, this sales, this, what's it called now? The length of time it takes to close a deal. What's it called again? Oh, forgotten. So I should be writing all these things now. Sales cycle. So this sales cycle is taking too long After a while, just delete this thing. You can't just be waking up and then Brochu, could you be taking up space in your head rent free for what?
When the other fish in the market delete Brochukudi and then move on. Start looking for other people to to do business with. So good. Now this babe said she had been calling all of them prospects, but most of them were just leads and she had no idea that there was a difference. I repeat, this lady had been calling everybody she's talking to. She's saying now prospect, but meanwhile, all of them are just leads. And she had no idea that there was a difference.
And I'm glad that more sales people and more business people are talking about these things now, because on the podcast, I try and make these definitions. Some of you think I'm being academic, but no, I'm not being academic. If you have the wrong definition, you're going to be treating people the wrong way, treating people the wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong way. All right. So if you're looking for wife material and you're calling some people wife material, meanwhile they're not really wife material.
It is yourself you're deceiving because you find out that you're spacing, you're spending your time chasing wife material, meanwhile you understand the person was not suitable. It's your fault. It's the same thing. Some people think they're dealing with husband material, but they don't know that what they're dealing with is time wasters or they're dealing with Yoruba demons. If you classify somebody correctly as a Yoruba demon,
when you're with that person, you will now know that OK, this one a Yoruba demon. So now just play where we they play. So at the end of the day, you have nobody to blame. You know, by yourself, you saw the person you labeled the person well and you know you call it is by what it is. So it's not everybody that has the prospect. It's not the lady had no idea that there's a difference. This is the difference in sales or in business.
Any single time we have somebody's phone number or contact detail or e-mail address or something, that person is just a contact. I repeat, just the contact. Sorry for noise in the background. Some children finish their classes then, you know, they're just running around being a nuisance. You know, that's the benefit of catechism class. Now you know your, your parents come and drop you in church and they take off. So when you finish class early,
you just be playing football when they come, you know. So anyway, anytime you have somebody, contact details and all that, the person is just a contact. That's all, just a contact. All you have is a phone number, that's a contact. The next thing you're trying to do basically is you're trying to figure out if the person might be interested in your product or your service. That is what makes the person a prospect. A prospect is somebody who,
well, we've had a chat, it looks like they might be interested in the product, might be interested in the service, maybe there's some room, there's a prospect, but then a lead. A lead is when there's some serious intent. You don't have the serious intent here, so we'll now chase this thing down. Then after lead, the person is now a deal. A deal means we have a serious proposal on the table and we are now chasing this person.
So we need to know who it is that we're dealing with. If you look at your phone and you have 5000 contacts and you tell yourself you have 5000 prospects, you are deceiving yourself. No, you have 5000 contacts. Until you talk to everybody and try and get a sense of who might be interested, you don't have a prospect. All you have is contacts. When you've actually had interactions with the person, you've had phone calls, you have emails, you've had Whatsapps and looks like they might be interested, Good, we can call them a prospect now when we're talking to prospects because there's some prospects that you know might be interested.
But The thing is, some people might be interested but they don't need you in 2026. Maybe they need you in 20-30. It's reasonable because I mean, like, think about it, there's some of you listening to this podcast now who are interested in my consulting service, but right now you don't get money or maybe you're not at that stage in business. So there's some people who are listening to my podcast in 2026, you know, who might be prospects, but honestly speaking, they're not going to be ready until 2028.
It's just normal. It's just normal. That's just how life is. So we need to know who it is we're dealing with and so that we can start sorting these people out accordingly so that we'll know. Who to invest time with and how much time to invest. So it starts off as a contact. You just have a phone number, you just have an e-mail address. You call the person you visit the person you WhatsApp the person you people will jam, you will talk.
Oh, this person might be interested. OK, this is a prospect. This person is not interested. OK, no problem. Leave them in relationship nurturing campaign. You go to send them WhatsApp, you go to send them e-mail. Let them be seen your profile from time to time so that if anything changes, they'll call you to say, babe, how far. Then when you have prospects, you continue to talk to them. Continue to talk to them. This one has serious intent.
It looks like we're making progress. Then that person is a lead. By the time you drop proposal on the table, that look, we'll do this for you, we'll do this for you. All you have to do is just send us $2.5 million. This is one that now that we have a deal, you market in your CRM as a deal. And then you discuss with your sales manager so that your sales manager can help you so that you will pursue this thing well. And then you close this deal and then you collect your Commission.
So yes, this lady is right. We need to be categorizing all these things well. Very properly, very properly. And so let me move on. So this lady said that she learned this thing the hard way. That is why we have this podcast, my brothers and sisters, so that we don't all have to learn the hard way. I've already learnt the hard way for you. I've already cried and cried and cried over deals that did not. OK, Well, I haven't cried actually.
I haven't cried because of money, OK? I've cried because of relationships but not money. But I'm just saying that I have suffered so that you do not have to suffer, right? So listen to this podcast, not just mine. Go and listen to any podcast like this, whether it's aimed at Nigerians or whether it's aimed at people, you know, that's the whole point. So listen. So where was I now? So this is what she learned the hard way.
She assumed that if somebody fits the ideal customer profile, they work in the right industry, they have the right title and they run the company of the right size, everything looks perfect. For her, that was enough that somebody just matched the description. So if that kind of person reached out to her, she will chase them, she will e-mail them, she will call them either until they buy until they block her or they ask her to stop.
In fact, let me comment on this something here, please. I beg salespeople and business people. If people are blocking you, is, is is a sign that there's, there's a problem with your sales process. I beg, I beg. It's not a thing of pride that somebody's blocking you. If somebody's blocking you, it means they are not interested. If somebody's blocking you, they're not interested. So like back in university days now? I was in, I started off in Angola Hall, you know, as a jam bite.
Then the first year babes when in what's it called? I can't remember that hall opposite Angola Hall. Then the big, big babes were in Morimi Hall. So for those of us now who? Wanted. To bite more than we can chew. You know young boys going to go and chase big babes in Morimi Hall. You know, it gets to 1 stage where by the time you knock, before you open, the girls will shout inside, They'll say, ah, La Baquet is not around, you know?
So if it gets to the stage where they're shouting at you that La Baquet is not inside you, you've gone too far. You're being too persistent, you're being too pushy. La Baquet is not interested. It's the same thing in business. By the time somebody's blocking you, there's a problem with your sales process. So it's not a thing of pride. In fact, I would prefer that you do not get blocked at all because when people block you,
what happens is these mobile carriers, you know, MTN true color glow or whatnot, I don't know how they do it, but somehow they share information. Before you know it, somebody will throw you, will call you on true color and the thing that will flash. So you try and call somebody on true color, they think that will flash. I have seen this thing happen. The other person will see on their phone, they will see 97 people have reported a spam.
Or blocked by 100 people. These things affect our credibility. So please, we don't have to continue on to the extent that somebody will now block us. Please, please, it is a bad thing. It is a very bad thing. It is a very bad thing because I have seen it. Before networking session, you know, British Council event, you say, oh, yeah, cool, let me have your phone number. Sure, no problem. I'll flash you. What's your number?
All right. And then the person flashes. And then on the other person's phone, it just shows that, oh, 97 people have 97 people have reported this number as spam. Do you think that gives a good impression? Please, business people, let's not continue until they block us. It is a bad sign even if you try to get in touch with somebody and then the person sees cause look, we're in Nigeria, we are in Nigeria. If somebody sees six people have reported this number as spam or this contact has been blocked by 12 people, the first thing anybody will assume is that you are into 419.
They won't know that it's just simple business. It's just simple market and you are being over persistent. So we shouldn't continue on today. Block us please. We shouldn't. OK. Once we know that somebody's not interested, I beg lean back. That's what we do. Like Fat Joe, Lean back, lean back. I know some of you won't know that song. So lean back, I beg when they're not interested. So from her, she said a prospect is someone who fits the profile and has demonstrated interest.
Maybe. OK, let's agree, Let's agree. A prospect is just anybody who is interested, anybody who is interested. That person is a prospect. But people who are interested don't always have a sense of urgency. Like right now I am interested in buying a car because I am tired of driving second hand. My AC has packed up and I need 250 GS to fix this thing. At first I told my wife no I'm not doing that but then by the Abuja heat has summered the life out of us and in fact one time was stuck in traffic.
One tractor that not tractor. This truck that packs dirty. Just pass by the exhaust pipe was doing all of us are now coughing and then whatever smelling refuse on top of that. I thought to myself I say self don't be punishing yourself like this. So I told her OK babe you know what don't worry the next one that comes in I'll fix this AC first. But The thing is I'm tired of this life can't be why am I driving second hand car?
Why? So I'm interested, but The thing is. I'm not currently in the market for a car and I don't have a sense of urgency to buy a car. So when you're in front of a prospect, these are the kinds of things, these are the kinds of conversations that you should be having with people to try and figure out. Do they have a need? Are they interested? How serious is the interest? What is that sense of urgency? Do they have any timelines?
Do they have any pressing concerns? That's all. Determine how you continue to flow with this person. So someone like me now if I go to, you know, a car lot and I'm talking to somebody and they don't ask me all these questions, they will assume that you have a lead on your hand or you have a good deal. No, but if you ask me questions, you realize that I'm only just doing research now. Just research, writing research. No, BC I already have millions on hand or that I have a desire.
Like when I went to one car a lot, I was looking at one car and then, you know, lady came and approached me, you know, because of my pot belly. You know, I look like I come from money, you know, and in Jesus name, I know the money will come. When people see me, they see money. So this believer assumed that this, this brass is ready. You know, I tried to tell her that no, I'm just looking. No, I'm not looking. She thought I was trying to be.
I was trying. To be she thought I was trying to be modest. Another guy came. I was looking at the cartoon from the way the guy was talking to this car about because it was the GAC I want to look at GSE is Grand Guangzhou Automobile Company. Those those people make some sick cars. Like bad, bad cars. Very correct right, sweet right, especially in military green and then black. So I was looking at the GS 8. That's how another guy came to come and look at me come and he was standing next to me.
The guy was the way the guy was talking is like this guy really thinks I have 50 M to drop on this car right now. That was talking to me about how you know the Mercedes-Benz for his wife, about how his wife has wrecked it and something something that he just wants to sell it and then get the GS. Something in my mind, I'm thinking in Jesus name now I'm getting there. I will get there. People are saying the money in me, the money will come.
The money will come. So you don't just look at somebody. The person has smooth skin. The person is a fine boy and the person has, you know, potbelly. So therefore the person is a Millennium, he's ready to buy the car, No? You engage people in conversation. Do they have a need? Do they have a problem? What's the vision? What's their timeline? You ask people, you walk up to someone, you say, oh, the GS 8, this is a wonderful car, isn't it?
The person will say, yes, actually it's a very beautiful car. What brought you here in particular? I said, well, no, I just saw the signboard. Something something. I just started my coming and have a look and this stuff like that. How long have you been searching for a car? Searching for a car? No, no, no. I'm just here because I'm curious. Oh, really? Yeah, I'm just curious. I never even. You see the way you'll be asking questions like that.
You'll be moving the conversation. You'll be able to know. Is the person serious? Is the person in one car? Pass. How long have you been looking for a car? If the person says, well, actually I've been on this for the last three months, This is the third. Dealership that I'm going to, In your mind, does this not now signal that this is a serious person? Be engaging people in conversations. Stop assuming that everybody you're talking to is interested or that they have an urgent need.
Urgent need just means the person is ready to take action. Now, now, now, now, now. Or there's something that we can point to that will help us to figure out when this person will be ready to take action. So like this other gentleman. Now that was standing. Next to me all. Right, but funny thing is the babe didn't clock it because me, I looked the part. I'm a fine boy, my skin is yellow, skin is smooth and then I now have potbelly on top.
So I looked the part and then my wife knows how to dress me well. So that day I was looking like money. She thought I was serious. She went away to go and talk with sales manager and you know what? Not but the guy that was standing next to me. To be honest, the guy looked like he was a traitor. But The thing is, while I was there, when we talked about how he mashed up, his wife had destroyed the Mercedes men's Jeep. He even showed me some pictures.
He even mentioned the place in Lukwe where the car was being redone. But he's thinking of he's thinking of selling the car. He even asked me whether I know people who even buy cars in this sort of condition, whether because he's thinking sell it off and then just buy something new. I continue to follow the guy to yarn because, you know, I'm in sales so I like talking to people. So that's what I do. But this girl, the sales girl,
she was not there. So she didn't get the benefit of all this conversation. But if she was there, she would have quickly figured out that oh, this boy where they fresh, this guy is not serious. This one that looks like he's a trader. This is the person that actually is ready to move forward. Should have invested time in the other guy. OK, so back to the LinkedIn post. So the lady in the LinkedIn post, you said that someone who fits the profile and has demonstrated interest, If the person has opened your e-mail more than once and they've asked questions, that shows what they're thinking.
People who have engaged. Yeah, That is someone who is a lead. Yeah, I agree with you. Yes, this is someone who is a lead. And she said that these are the kind of people you chase. So yes, judging by horn criteria, if they open your emails more than once, then yes. OK, OK, see this e-mail thing. Sometimes we cause us serious problems for ourselves. Emails, eh? Oh, emails have the worst open rate. If you didn't hear me, let me repeat it again.
Emails have the worst open rate. There are some countries that if you can achieve a 2% e-mail open rate, you have done well. In other words, there are some countries where if you send 100 emails and people open to. You've done well, you have tried. That shows you how bad The thing is. Now, text messages, WhatsApp messages and these kinds of things have between 96 to 98% open rate. Meaning in other words, if you send 100 WhatsApp messages or 100 text messages, you know that 98 of them were opened.
Whether people responded or not is a different matter, but at least you know that I sent 100. You just. Know with full certainty in 2026 that 98 or 96 people, they opened it now knowing that e-mail. Sorry that WhatsApp and text message have 96 to 96 eight percent open rate. Please, my brothers and sisters. Why do we keep insisting on sending emails? We're sending the message to the one place where we know people do not even open it, and people have gotten into the habit of even if they open the.
Inbox and they see it. They will just look at the name, select select, select select select delete, select select select select select spam, select select select select. You know, move to move to this folder. Move to that folder. Business people listening. I beg. Professional salespeople listening, I beg. Stop relying on e-mail as your primary form of communication. If you're relying on e-mail as your primary form of communication, you are the one who is doing yourself in the January 2026 class that we had started on January 19th by the time we spoke about this thing.
What The guy in the class who was into audio production who creates audiobooks for Nigerian authors? The guy said it. He said it's true. I said it's true. How? Give me a testimony, my brother, I'm listening. And the guy said he had been pursuing somebody for two whole years on linked on e-mail, on e-mail level 2 whole years. Now by the time we started training and I said all these things about open rates and the most effective form of communication, at least effective form of communication.
Guess what my *** did? My guy called this person straight Monday morning and guess what happened? Guess what happened? The fixed meeting and before you know it, one week proposal was on the table, somebody that he had been sending messages for e-mail for two whole years. I didn't make this up. So you're a business owner, you're very good at sending emails, wonderful emails, you know, with beautiful PDF files attached to it and everything.
Can you stop that thing, please? It has the worst open rate currently in 2026. If you're listening to this in 2086. Who knows, maybe business culture has changed and now? Everybody's opening e-mail but as of now in 2026, this thing has the worst open rate. Stop sending the damn emails. There's a time for sending the e-mail. What I recommend is this, when you have established rapport with somebody, when people are flowing, when people are making progress, then you can send e-mail with the invoice or you can send e-mail with the proposal, you know, with the full proposal, so they can print later or something.
I mean, now you have established traction, they know you. You've gone past this toasting stage. They can open inbox and then look and then see that oh, Cecilia sent me an e-mail. Let me see what Cecilia wants, then they will click on it. But in the early stage, when you are a nobody, trust me, nobody is reading that e-mail. Please stop it. So it's possible that this lady's that is. Complaining here on LinkedIn, It's possible that she.
Just she. Calls her own problem. Then she said if the person ask questions that show that they're thinking about their problem. In fact, this is where in my own opinion, this this this lady is missing the plot. It's not about them asking questions, it is about you asking questions. You. Are supposed to take the initiative. You are supposed to ask the questions. If you're waiting for people to start asking you serious questions, OK, I I don't even know how to explain.
When I see professional sales people talk like this, the thing blows my mind. You're waiting for the customer to ask you the right questions. You ask the right questions. So like back to this example, we're standing in the GAC Abuja headquarters while looking at cars. There are two people there. One of them is a young man. OK, well, two of them are young men, but one of them is a much younger man who has a pot belly. The guy look robust, The guy look fresh.
The guy looks clean. The guy looks smooth. The guy sounds king. He's standing in front of the the G8, the GS8. 50M price tag, this was a long time ago, you know that now cars, cars cost. So you can see that kind of car now and see that it's 50 M SO50M price tag is standing there. There's another person who is standing next to him. I won't say it looks wretched, but guy looks kind of looks like a trader. You're waiting for the person who's going to ask the right kind of question.
It is not about who is asking the right kinds of questions. It is up to you, the salesperson to ask the questions. So 1 moment. I. Have to wind up a little. Sorry. There's meant to be some noise. OK, sorry about that. There are just some distractions in the background. I say let me just wind up to get rid of all this distraction. I don't want too much noise to come into the recording. Hence, where was I now? So you are the salesperson.
Stop waiting for those two men who are in front of you. Stop waiting. Who's going to ask me the right questions, my friend? You are the one to ask the question. It is then you'll be able to figure out these two people that are standing in front of me. Who is the serious person? Who is the worker pass? Who should I engage with? Who should I disengage? Who should I tell? Get out of my shop And who should I tell Sir? Come and have a seat.
It is up to you to ask the question. We are the sales people. We are the business professionals. It has never been up to the prospects. It has never been up to the client to ask the right questions. You are the specialist, my friend. Take charge. Ask the questions. Good morning, Sir. This is a wonderful car, isn't it? Oh, yes, it is. How long have you been looking for a car? You start from there. You don't know us. Go there and then you smile and then based on who is saying the right words, you.
Anyway, for those of you who are salespeople who don't want to learn, continue. Continue deceiving yourselves. You now say clients are all serious. What do you mean they're all serious? Everybody will take care of their own self-interest. You're the one that is all serious. You don't know the kinds of questions to ask. Go and talk to your line manager. What are the kinds of conversations I should be having with people so I can figure out who is interested, so I can figure out who is, who is a lead, who has a, you know, where we have prospects for a serious deal.
Go and learn from a line manager or go and listen to podcasts or go and use ChatGPT. Ask ChatGPT a couple of questions. I mean, the automobile space. I sell this kind of car. I sell that kind of car. I've been having problems with having conversations with people who come onto the showroom floor. Give me 10 examples of questions that I can use to ask people so that I can figure out who is interested, who is curious, who is ready to take action soon.
It will give you some good suggestions, but please, never as a salesperson or as a business owner. Never ever, ever, never ever. You think it is up to the other person to ask the right questions. Never think that it is your own responsibility. And you forgive me for venting listening to verge me sometimes so. Let's see, she stopped spending hours crafting perfect emails. This is also another thing that pains me. This is also another reason why I say stop with the e-mail thing, because you don't realize it.
You want the e-mail to be perfect. You start work at 9:00. Before you realize it, it's 1030. You're still on. One e-mail. Meanwhile, if you have picked up the phone and called this person, it's been 2 hours, you don't think you could have made progress in a 2 hour phone conversation? Anyway, so she spent hours crafting the perfect emails to people who never hear from her. Let's see. Anyway, later on, the lady in the message in that's on the in the the LinkedIn post, she says that most sales training don't tell you something.
They don't tell you that you can't turn the lead into a prospect through persistence alone. And this is where I say this lady is wrong. This lady is she's she's wrong. If your sales trainer, your sales manager, your sales, whatever, hasn't taught you about this difference, then you are with the wrong person. You hear me? If you're listening to this thing right now, your sales manager, your sales trainer, your sales coach or whatever has not spoken about things like this.
At this very basic level. You are with the wrong person. Go and look for somebody else. It doesn't have to be me, but go and look for somebody else. Because. Any sales trainer worth the assault? Any manager worth the assault? Would teach you all of. These things because sales manager, definitely they are rated on your own performance. If you perform well, people will clap for your sales manager. Anyway, it's a pity that lots of Nigerian sales people are are suffering.
Then let's see. OK, so now the lady says in the LinkedIn post that your job is not to manufacture that feeling of when somebody's interested. And my sister, I agree with you wholeheartedly and I'm glad that you have seen the light. And in fact, let me say now, loud and clear, sorry, let me wind out the window again. The distraction that was here, the distraction has left. So let me wind down. All right. What was that?
Sorry, I'm calling a human being a distraction, and you're just one of these things. So she said your job is not to manufacture interest. My sister, I agree with you. Which is the reason why when people say that a salesperson job is to convince somebody to buy, I quickly check you. I say convince what? It is not your job to convince nothing. It is not your job to manufacture nothing. It is not your job to inspire interest.
Like no, what we do in sales is we look for the person who is interested already and then we blend, we align. So if you are the salesperson on the floor of GAC Guangzhou Automobile Company, you are the headquarters in Abuja. 2 young men work in front of you, one of them looking smooth, looking clean. You're the one looking kind of rugged. You know, it is not your job to entice the clean boy to buy. No who? It's your job to figure out of these two gentlemen in front of me who is actually interested?
The person that is interested. Align, blend. The job not to manufacture nothing. The job is not to convince nobody. Your job is just oh, I'm here. There's some prospects who is interested. OK, who looks like they're ready to take action soon. OK, who seems like they're serious OK, these ones that look like they're not serious well, I'll be sending them WhatsApp message e-mail message happy new month message once in a while this sort of one that looks as if they're interested, but I
can't quite figure out that timeline and no problem. I would have followed them. They Yan I will keep in touch somehow sharp until I figure out who is ready. Then this one over here who looks as if they're interested and they might be ready to go soon because this guy keeps on talking about like the next three months, the next four months. This one looks like he's a serious person. Let me align. That, my dear friends, is what sales is.
We're not in the business in the business of convincing anybody. We're in the business of figuring out who was already interested to begin with, and then we run with it. So the lady ends this post by saying that nowadays she still talks to plenty of leads, but as she pours her energy into prospects, is that even correct? She talks to plenty of leads, but as she pours her energy into prospects. OK, yes, yes, yes, she's correct.
She's correct. And my dear friends, that is the challenge. Now that lies before us, how can we figure out who is merely a contact? Who is a lead? Who is the prospect? When do we have a deal? All these questions are important because they tell us where to invest our energies in. If you're able to tell the difference, then when you wake up on a Monday morning because it's Sunday at the time of making this recording. When you wake up on a Monday morning and you know that you have 5 deals on your plate, oh you be a fool if you don't start your day 9:00 in chasing the five deals that are actually on your table.
Then after you are done with the five deals now on your table, it is then you can now continue to process the other leads that you have to see what you can squeeze from that. After you are done with the leads, it is then you will now go back to the prospects that you're talking to. I'll follow up on those ones. Then after that you will now start talking to just the general contacts that you have. To see who else is, who else is,
you know who else is juicy in the pipeline, you understand? So forgive me that you know I'm not using professional language because you know who else is juicy. In fact, that doesn't sound right. OK, note to self, don't say juicy again. So that is the question for the Nigerian business owner. That is the question for Nigerian salesperson. So that when you wake up, you can invest your time accordingly. You will always wake up first.
And you pay attention to the deals, the people that are close to money, let's see where those ones are. And then the people who deserve the least amount of your time. See, when I say people who deserve the least amount of your time, please don't be angry. I know that. Everybody is created equal with equal dignity before God. But this is just about business. This is about business when it comes to business, when it comes to sale, not everybody deserve your deserves your time.
Everybody deserves your respect, yes, but not everybody deserves your time. So me, I'm worthy of respect. But honestly speaking, when I was on that floor on, on at Guangzhou, Guangzhou Automobiles, the headquarters in Abuja, when I was on that floor, honestly speaking, the lady should have diagnosed. Well, I figured out that this young boy with fine skin and with the potbelly, he's not worthy of my time, at least not today.
So I've collected my phone number or. Something unless you should have figured out that oh, this guy that came in here and I was looking one kind. This person is worthy of my time and attention today. I should follow up with him now. Now because not only has him been looking for a car, he has been looking at it for the last two months. The reason why he's looking for a car is because his wife has wrecked the Benz Jeep.
In fact, he's even wondering the Benz Jeep that he is fixing. Is there anybody that he can sell it to now and just cut out of this thing and then he's now even thinking of buying? Automobile and. The reason why he wants to buy the GS 8 is so that he can use it for himself. Then the. Benz CC class something something something you give that one to his wife since his wife has a history of destroying cars, if she destroys that one you know you know won't really paint him so you.
Have to be good. Learn how to have these conversations. And learn. How to filter people, How are you going to learn these things? Well, that's the reason why I have the podcast. So listen and if you want to get in touch with me, you can call, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. You have a problem with trying to figure out who is serious, trying to figure out who is Wakapas? It's not a problem.
Reach out to me. Let's have the conversation and let's see how we can help you make your sales process better. If you're looking for free coaching, that's not a problem. Just tell me. But then I will answer one question only. But then if you want us to go in depth and look into some issues and try and sort out, you know, one or two things, pick up your systems, make sure that you have processes in place, Make sure that everything is working all right.
We will have to look at paid coaching options, whether hourly or whether daily or whether weekly or whether monthly or whether quarterly. So that's it. Thanks for your time and attention. I will catch you all some other time. But a note of warning, the person that signed off this post, the person that created the post, what she does is she teaches AI to people that they can use to understand their sales. I just want people to know the quality of people that are out there, all the influencers people are following that people are learning from.
This is somebody who is struggling on a rudimentary level when it comes to what a sale is and, you know, deciding who's in the market and who's not in the market. This is the person that's positioning herself as a guru and teaching other people and some of you who fall for it, especially since because she's saying AI, please, you should shine your eyes. There's not everybody that calls themselves guru on the Internet that actually is a guru now.
Funny thing is. All these young men and women who are coming out saying these things, you know they mean well. They mean well, I think they're just moving too fast. You need to wait and figure out a couple of things before you come out and start saying you're trying to teach people. If you don't understand the fundamentals, then what exactly are you teaching? Anyway, let me stop there. It's been 15 minutes of your time, so let me let you guys free.
So thanks for listening. I'll catch you all some other time.